When is Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson?
Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson is on Saturday, January 31. The broadcast will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. GMT).
What channel is Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson on?
Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson is a pay-per-view available for purchase via DAZN.
Where is Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson?
The fight is taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Who is Teofimo Lopez?
Teofimo Lopez, 22-1 (13 KOs), is a two-division champion. The 28-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, is the current lineal king at 140lbs and the former top guy at 135.
Lopez was being groomed for success by promoter Top Rank in the latter part of the 2010s. He won his first lightweight title belt with ease by knocking out Richard Commey in about four minutes in late 2019. That was followed by a big match with Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020. Lopez took the first half of the fight, and Lomachenko came on too late to overcome the deficit. Lopez seized the throne via unanimous decision.
His reign didn’t last long. Thirteen months later, in Lopez’s first defense, he suffered a massive upset against George Kambosos Jnr. Lopez was dropped in the first round and lost a split decision. That would be it for “The Takeover” at 135.
Lopez subsequently entered junior welterweight with a sixth-round TKO of the 34-1-1 Pedro Campa and a split decision over contender Sandor Martin. None of this created high expectations for Lopez, but he once again fought up to the moment when he took on Josh Taylor, who was no longer undisputed but still had the WBO belt and lineal recognition. Lopez clearly outpointed Taylor in June 2023 and became the new champ at 140.
Three defenses have followed: decisions over Jamaine Ortiz, Steve Claggett and Arnold Barboza. This fourth defense, against Shakur Stevenson, represents Lopez’s most talented opponent since Lomachenko.
Who is Shakur Stevenson?
Shakur Stevenson, 24-0 (11 KOs), is the current WBC lightweight titleholder and previously held a pair of world titles at 130lbs and a title belt at 126. A win over Teofimo Lopez would make him a four-division titleholder and would be his second Ring Magazine championship.
Stevenson, a 28-year-old originally from Newark, New Jersey, took home a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics and soon turned pro with fanfare. In 2019, he widely outpointed the previously unbeaten Joet Gonzalez to capture the vacant WBO featherweight belt, then moved up in weight without defending it.
In late 2021, Stevenson dominated Jamel Herring to take the WBO junior lightweight title. One fight later, he widely outpointed Oscar Valdez to add the WBC belt and vacant Ring championship. Stevenson came in overweight for his next bout against Robson Conceicao, taking the decision but vacating his belts in the process. He then headed up to lightweight.
Stevenson’s stint at 135lbs has seen him try to find the right mix of offense and defense. He is so skilled that he can easily make opponents miss, but he hasn’t always prioritized making them pay afterward. As a result, there have been fights that weren’t as entertaining to watch. Yet he also doesn’t want to take unnecessary punishment while building a fan base.
With that said, Stevenson’s two most recent outings – a TKO of late replacement Josh Padley last February and a clear decision over top contender William Zepeda in July – were much more enjoyable than the two that came before. Stevenson was widely derided after outpointing Edwin De Los Santos to pick up the vacant WBC title, and his first defense against Artem Harutyunyan wasn’t overly aesthetically pleasing either.
It will be interesting to see what style and strategy Stevenson brings after moving up in weight to challenge the skilled Lopez. And it will also be interesting to see what Stevenson decides to do afterward if he picks up the victory, the WBO junior welterweight belt and the lineal championship at 140lbs. There are good fights available for him both in this packed weight class and back down at lightweight.
What other fights are on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson?
The undercard includes two additional title fights, plus two other notable bouts.
One title fight will see Carlos Adames, 24-1-1 (18 KOs), back nearly a year after his controversial draw with Hamzah Sheeraz. Adames will defend his WBC belt against Austin “Ammo” Williams, 19-1 (13 KOs), who has won three straight since being stopped by Sheeraz in 2024.
In the other title fight, the vacant WBC featherweight belt is up for grabs after its previous owner, Stephen Fulton, badly missed weight in a junior lightweight title bout against O’Shaquie Foster in December. Competing for the title are WBC interim titleholder Bruce Carrington, 16-0 (9 KOs), and second-ranked Carlos Castro, 30-3 (14 KOs), who hasn’t fought since a debatable split decision loss to Fulton in September 2024.
Also on this show, former lightweight titleholder Keyshawn Davis, 13-0 (9 KOs), is fighting for the first time in a year after coming in way over 135lbs last June, causing his defense against Edwin De Los Santos to be called off. Davis has moved up to 140lbs and will debut in this weight class against Jamaine Ortiz, 20-2-1 (10 KOs). Ortiz’s only losses came on the scorecards against Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2022 and Teofimo Lopez in 2024. He is on a three-fight winning streak.
And in a heavyweight attraction, Jarrell Miller, 26-1-2 (22 KOs), will meet Kingsley Ibeh, 16-2-1 (14 KOs).
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
